Becoming an anger management specialist is a process that begins with the interest of helping folks via psycho-education and support groups. Many folks are interested in assisting individuals within their community but may not have the training to do so. Though being an anger management facilitator does not require one to be a therapist, having the proper training and being passionate about helping others is essential.
What’s an Anger Management Instructor?
An anger management specialist who is not a therapist will often choose the path to teach and instruct an anger management class. Their program will not consist of counseling but instead of training and educating. An anger management class with an instructor will include a program teaching participants the various skills necessary to manage aggressive behavior. Such skills include regulating anger, stress management, assertive communication training, active listening skills, increasing empathy and emotional intelligence, practicing forgiveness, and improving relationship beliefs.
What’s the Difference Between a Therapist and an Anger Management Specialist?
A therapist specializing in anger management teaches similar skills as an anger management specialist; however, a therapy session is client-led, whereas an anger management session is facilitator-led. This setup could result in a client exploring their feelings and processing versus learning, role-playing, and implementing specific skills to improve. The former may offer value in gaining insight into one’s past and current situation but not necessarily have the particular tools to do much about it. In contrast, the latter helps with the Cognitive Therapy Approach (CBT) to learn the necessary skills to improve.
Anger management specialists attend training approved by the National Anger Management Association (NAMA) and the California Association of Anger Management Providers (CAAMP). The anger management counselor uses such a program to teach the course to the community.
How Can I Help Someone with Their Anger?
If you want to start a program to help others with anger management, you could attend a 3-day training with Anita Avedian, LMFT, CAMS-IV, at Anger Management Essentials. The training includes:
1- Creating the business portion of your program
2- Differentiating anger management with DSM-V diagnoses and knowing when to refer to a higher level of care
3- Learning the skills to teach adult clients based on the 2nd edition of the Anger Management Essentials workbook
4- Reviewing the skills to teach teen clients based on the Anger Management Essentials workbook: teen’s edition
5- Supervision and feedback on group and private mock facilitation, preparing you to facilitate a session with actual clients
6- Implementing techniques to manage a cohesive group and managing disruptive behavior in a group setting
Do I Qualify To Be An Anger Management Counselor?
Several criteria are essential to consider when choosing a path to become an anger management facilitator. Are you selecting to attend a NAMA or CAAMP-approved training with qualification? Is the program you plan to teach considered an evidence-based curriculum?
At the interpersonal level, an anger management specialist must have qualities that include holding and maintaining boundaries within the group setting and program policies. They will need to balance teaching and facilitating a discussion with topics that are relevant to helping improve one’s aggressive behavior. Sometimes, a facilitator only preaches or teaches and does not create the space for participants to share. Other times, the facilitator does not teach and only has participants share. An effective facilitator will know how to balance teaching and facitliating a discussion related to the skill-based program.
Additional qualities to consider include not imposing one’s values onto the participants. If, for example, the program is faith-based when a person has been required to attend an anger management program, that may violate a participant’s experience. If politics is discussed and the anger management facilitator imposes their beliefs onto the participants, that could violate expectations and impede one’s progress. The anger management counselor should be self-aware and work through any ethical considerations.
At Anger Management Essentials, a facilitator’s manual is offered to counselors to aid them in teaching the lesson plans in their group and private settings. NAMA’s four required supervision sessions, along with the break-out mocks with supervision and feedback, are incorporated into the training. Start your journey today and attend the upcoming anger management certification course. Register at https://angermanagementessentials.com/anger-management-certification-registration/
Anita Avedian is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (License # LMFT 38403) and a Certified Anger Management Specialist (CAMS_IV) and has been practicing psychotherapy since 1996. She is the Executive Director of Avedian Counseling Center, Anger Management 818, with offices throughout Los Angeles, and Anger Management Essentials, Inc. Anita is a Diplomat Member of the National Anger Management Association (NAMA) and the Co-Founder of the California Association of Anger Management Providers (CAAMP). She authored Anger Management Essentials, a workbook for aggression, which has been translated into Spanish, Armenian, and Hebrew, as well as the teen’s workbook, which has been translated into Spanish and English. Recently, the Facilitator’s Manual has been published with reproducible worksheets. Anita is a NAMA and CAAMP-approved trainer and supervisor and offers monthly training via Zoom and private training nationwide to agencies.
